Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday said controlling loadshedding was a ‘very, very difficult challenge’ for the government as he came down hard on the PTI for not securing cheap gas and maintaining power plants during its rule. Speaking in a meeting on loadshedding at the Prime Minister’s Office, he said it was the government’s responsibility to end power outages but at the same time mentioned that the government had refrained from buying expensive gas to generate power. “We have refrained from procuring expensive gas. The previous government missed the opportunity to purchase cheap gas,” he said. Shehbaz said the PTI cast aspersions on the deal the PML-N government struck with Qatar in its previous tenure. He further said although the oil and gas prices were at the record high in the international market, the government was trying its best to resolve the loadshedding issue. He also lambasted the PTI for not maintaining power plants. “…but we understand the problems faced by the people and we will resolve this issue.” Meanwhile, the prime minister chaired a meeting on increasing the potential of Information Technology (IT) related exports from the $2.5 billion to $15 billion. In the meeting attended by Junaid Qureshi, President of Silicon Valley, California – an organization of Pakistani businessmen, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the volume of IT exports and stressed the need to further boost them. The meeting highlighted the role of Pakistani expatriates residing in the Silicon Valley and their contribution to the motherland. Shehbaz lauded the efforts of Junaid Qureshi and urged him to promote Pakistan’s IT sector abroad. Junaid Qureshi apprised the prime minister of the international campaign #TechDestinationPakistan and emphasized that the government’s marketing outreach was significant in increase of IT exports. He also invited the premier to visit the Silicon Valley and meet leaders of renowned tech companies on the sidelines of his upcoming visit to New York in September.